Chapter 71 : On-the-Spot Breakthrough

Chapter 71: On-the-Spot Breakthrough

“How much?!” Long Tao felt his head buzz violently.

“You… what did you just say? How much?! One thousand points?!”

The number was utterly absurd.

According to the System’s explanation just now, even the Divine Soul of an old monster at the Nascent Soul Stage was only around five hundred to eight hundred points! One thousand points? Wouldn’t that be the legendary Deification Stage?! A powerful sense of unreality swallowed him whole in an instant.

But if… if it were true? If he could temporarily possess such a vast, ocean-like Divine Soul, then frightening off a Golden Core cultivator might truly be possible! A path to survival seemed to genuinely appear before his eyes!

Just as his emotions surged, the System’s voice sounded again, like a bucket of cold water poured over him.

“Don’t be happy too early. There’s one piece of good news and one piece of bad news. I’m too lazy to ask which you want to hear first—either way, it’s the same.”

“Uh… then please tell me the bad news first.”

The voice seemed rather pleased by Long Tao’s instinctive use of an honorific and said leisurely, “The bad news is that your cultivation is far too weak! Qi-Refining Fifth Layer—your Qi Sea hasn’t even been opened yet. You simply cannot withstand a Divine Soul strength of one thousand Soul Lamp Value. You would die without question.”

Long Tao’s heart instantly sank to the bottom, but he forcibly suppressed his panic and asked, “Then… what about the good news?”

“The good news…” the voice drawled.

“The good news is that you’re already stuck at the very final threshold of Qi-Refining Fifth Layer—just one last step away. So you still have a chance to gamble. Break through on the spot, immediately! As long as you successfully open the Qi Sea, letting your physical body and meridians undergo one round of tempering and expansion, you might have a chance to survive.”

On-the-spot breakthrough?! After hearing this, Long Tao felt his vision go black.

“You make it sound easy! I still need to complete the ‘Three Talents Returning to the Apertures’ and ‘Opening the Palace Edict’ steps. That would take at least two days! Even if you let me break through on the spot, that Golden Core cultivator isn’t going to wait two days for me!”

Who would have thought the mysterious voice wouldn’t care in the slightest.

“Alright, alright. I’ve roughly looked through your memories and understand your sect’s cultivation method. Hmm… the Qi-Guiding Art of the Nine-Xia Heavenly Sect—honestly speaking, it’s not bad. It breaks each realm’s breakthrough into several smaller steps. It’s tedious and inefficient, but the safety and success rate are indeed greatly improved, especially suitable for cultivating large numbers of mid- and lower-tier disciples.”

This objective evaluation surprised Long Tao slightly.

He had originally thought that an ‘ancient great being’ like this would look down on low-tier cultivation methods.

“Under normal circumstances, proceeding step by step would naturally be the best choice. But now it’s a matter of life and death! And you’re still thinking about achieving a perfect breakthrough?”

“This… sigh…” Long Tao smiled bitterly.

“I know the situation is urgent. It’s just that… even if I break through to Qi-Refining Sixth Layer, I’m still just a bottom-tier minor cultivator. Can I really withstand a Divine Soul that surpasses the Nascent Soul level?”

“Don’t underestimate Qi-Refining Sixth Layer,” the voice became serious.

“The qualitative change brought by opening the Qi Sea is no less important than breaking through to Foundation Establishment. We always say ‘Qi Refining,’ but the first five layers are actually just preparatory work—a ‘preparatory stage’ of widening meridians and accumulating spiritual energy. Only after the Qi Sea is opened, when a small world forms within the dantian, can one be considered a true ‘Qi Refiner.’”

Perhaps because it had been dormant for too long, Long Tao felt that this System senior seemed to possess an exceptionally strong urge to lecture—or rather… enthusiasm for teaching? If it could live again, it would probably be very suitable as a teaching elder within a sect.

“After the Qi Sea forms, the connection between your physical body and Divine Soul will be much more stable, and your adaptability to a sudden surge in Divine Soul strength will naturally improve significantly.

Although… there will still be a considerable risk of dying, it’s far better than the previous situation of certain death.”

“So that’s how it is…” Long Tao took a deep breath, his gaze gradually firming.

“Since you’ve said so, there’s nothing left for me to hesitate about. I’ll gamble on it! But… do you have any fast-track method?”

“Of course I do. I’ll teach you one right now—the ‘Blood-Refining Sea-Casting Method’! This is an extreme breakthrough technique that some impoverished independent cultivators occasionally used in the past.”

“Blood-Refining Sea-Casting Method? Just the name alone sounds ominous.”

“It is indeed dangerous. First, you must forcibly sever a portion of your Divine Soul origin and embed it into the dantian Qi vortex to reinforce the ‘Sea Eye.’ Then, regardless of cost, compress and force all of your spiritual energy into it, smashing against the dantian barrier! In an extremely short time, you can forcibly blast open the Qi Sea!”

The method carried a brutal, ‘success or death’ aura just from hearing it.

But since he had already made up his mind, Long Tao still asked seriously, “This method… what are its flaws?”

“Of course there are flaws,” the voice said bluntly.

“First, because it requires actively severing part of the Divine Soul, it causes permanent damage to the cultivator’s foundation and potential. Those who break through using this method will have no hope of Golden Core for life unless they encounter an extraordinary opportunity, and even Foundation Establishment can only achieve the lowest-grade level.”

“Second, the process is extremely painful! The pain of severing the Divine Soul and the pain of battering the dantian—you’ll have to endure all of it yourself!”

“Wait! Then… then in the future I’ll only ever achieve lowest-grade Foundation Establishment? No hope of Golden Core?”

“Are you stupid, kid?!” the voice snapped irritably.

“I already told you the flaw lies in severing the Divine Soul. But what’s your greatest advantage? You’re not lacking in Divine Soul! After completing this task, you’ll gain quite a bit more, won’t you?”

“Then… exactly how much Divine Soul needs to be severed?”

“If calculated in Soul Lamp Value, about five points should do it.

For ordinary cultivators, that’s nearly a quarter or even a third of their total Divine Soul—truly crippling. But for you…”

Five points? Long Tao quickly calculated in his mind.

It was exactly the Destiny Luck Reward from this main task.

If he used those five Soul Lamp Value points as the wager to exchange for a breakthrough and a slim chance of survival, then added the previous side quests and the money earned using System intelligence, this overall deal didn’t seem like a loss.

“Alright!” Long Tao no longer hesitated, his gaze resolute.

“System senior, please guide me in detail through this ‘Blood-Refining Sea-Casting Method’!”

The voice seemed slightly displeased with the form of address, but didn’t fuss over it.

It immediately transmitted the specific techniques of the Blood-Refining Sea-Casting Method, the precautions, and the key points for enduring the pain, word by word, to Long Tao.

…

The Golden Core True Person of the Wuyi Sect harbored a trace of doubt about Long Tao’s true identity, but didn’t take it seriously.

According to reports from the assassination unit that had infiltrated the Secret Realm earlier, the sect had stationed a full five Golden Core cultivators at the Secret Realm entrance this time.

Even if that genius from the Nine-Xia Heavenly Sect, True Person Zhiying, was formidable, there was absolutely no way they could break in within a short time.

In other words, within this Secret Realm, he was the undisputed ruler at present, possessing power that crushed all opposition.

A mere Qi-Refining minor cultivator—even if he truly had some unknown secret channel, knew a bit of inside information, or carried one or two special magical artifacts—could not stir up any waves in the face of absolute strength.

The reason he had spared this itinerant merchant’s life was indeed due to concern for Nan Yuchen, this ‘Child of Destiny,’ and his state of mind.

If killing someone familiar to him caused drastic emotional fluctuations that affected the incubation of the Yaoguang Azure Phoenix Egg, that would be a case of gaining little while losing much.

There was also an even more important reason.

The Azure Phoenix was a Quasi–Holy Beast.

When it was about to hatch, any bloodshed in the surroundings would inevitably have negative effects.

There had once been records of large-scale battles erupting over competition during the birth of similar holy beasts, with excessive killing intent producing Yin-Sha Energy, causing the holy beast to die immediately upon birth.

Although killing a small character wouldn’t have such a great impact, he would rather let this itinerant merchant live than take even the slightest risk.

Right now, the most important thing was to ensure that the Azure Phoenix hatched in a perfect state and completed its Recognition Bond with him.

If, afterward, he could also bring this Child of Destiny back to the sect… that would naturally be an unexpected bonus.

Just as he felt quite satisfied with all current developments, the itinerant merchant who had been quietly standing off to the side suddenly showed signs of something being off.

The fellow, who had looked resigned and whose aura had been relatively stable, suddenly sat down cross-legged without any warning, closed his eyes, and assumed a posture of meditative cultivation—completely disregarding the threat posed by him, a Golden Core True Person!

The Wuyi Sect Golden Core was slightly surprised, but most of his attention was currently tied to the phoenix egg and his outwardly extended Divine Sense vigilance.

He couldn’t be bothered to pay immediate attention to this ant’s strange behavior, simply treating it as a desperate man completely giving up.

However, the situation soon changed again.

The itinerant merchant’s body began to tremble slightly.

Veins bulged at his temples and neck, large beads of cold sweat continuously seeping out.

His teeth were clenched tight, facial muscles twisted by extreme pain, and his entire body even began to convulse uncontrollably, as if he were enduring some form of brutal torture.

This commotion finally drew more of the Wuyi Sect Golden Core’s attention.

With a hint of curiosity and the amused mindset of watching a trapped beast struggle on the brink of death, he examined him carefully.

This examination revealed something even more interesting—at this person’s dantian, spiritual energy was gathering, compressing, and crashing about in an extremely violent, almost self-destructive manner! That posture was clearly an attempt to forcibly break through to Qi-Refining Sixth Layer and open the Qi Sea using the most primitive and brutal means!

“Oh?” The Wuyi Sect Golden Core’s tone carried a trace of mockery and surprise.

“Your Excellency truly has refined tastes.

With your life hanging by a thread, instead of thinking about how to beg for mercy and survive, you actually have the leisure to break through your cultivation here? Such a Dao Heart is truly admirable.

If those useless disciples under my command had even half of your resolve, that would be enough.”

From the fifth to the sixth layer was, in the end, still trivial scuffling within the Qi Refining stage.

To him, it was merely an ant becoming a slightly larger ant—still posing no threat whatsoever.

But after guarding this desolate Secret Realm for over twenty years, suddenly witnessing such a vivid, low-tier cultivator’s breakthrough unfolding right before his eyes stirred a trace of nostalgia within him, causing him to rarely develop some interest in watching.

He wanted to see just what kind of spectacle this kid could produce using such a reckless method.

After all, everything was under his control.